Bursting into the ER, the orderlies quickly hooked up assorted monitoring equipment to the girl's now quiet form. Asche followed in time to hear one of them address the resident supercomputer. "Elliot, lifesigns?""Lifesigns are present," Elliot responded, "Pulse strong and rapid. But I cannot definitively say that her lifesigns are normal.
"Cannot definitively say?!" The orderly asked, as another demanded, "What the hell is that supposed to mean, Elliot?"
"I cannot say because I cannot definitively identify this organism as huumunn." The second orderly groaned and Elliot continued, "Lifesigns are moderately normal, if that is any help, gentlemen."
The first orderly shot a look to the other two. "I suppose that is better than moderately abnormal 'gentlemen'," he laughed.
In the same nonchalant? tone, Elliot added, "This patient also is showing high readings of radioactive isotopes."
"Where the hell is my containment suit! Cripes!!" The second orderly began to curse vehemently.
Asche peeked into the cubicle where the orderlies and Penance were, just in time to overhear the containment suit comment. "What?!"
"Appears to be a Strontium isotope," Elliot informed them.
The head orderly jumped in. "Ash, this patient of yours is lighting up E7's geiger counter."
"You're kidding?" Asche backed up unconsciously as the girl's leg kicked like a dog having a dream of car chasing and fell still.
"I am incapable of kidding, Mirandahh," Elliot reminded her.
The second orderly backed toward the door. His eyes darted nervously from place to place as though trying to 'see' the possible rad increase. "I'm going to get my containment suit -- frag this." Then he simply walked away.
"Oh man -- We gotta get her into containment." Asche tried not to panic and focussed on the problem. "Elliot, any idea 'why' she's radioactive?"
"Unknown."
"Right." Asche scowled. "Okay boys, get outta there. Get your suits." The other two orderlies left the room and she looked up at the ceiling again. "Elliot, can we get a containment room ready?" She glanced after the orderlies, "And someone check those guards for radiation burns."
"Containment room is ready, Mirandahh," Elliot announced.
Asche checked the readouts on the screen, then paused. "Hell, do I even have a suit?" She muttered to herself as she eyed the girl. She was twitching again, Asche noticed. All the silver buckles that bound the black leather straps to her body gleamed in the flourescent light and the padlock at her throat rested against one of the spikes of the collar itself. Such a weird getup, Asche thought. The girl's eyelids were fluttering rapidly but her eyes didn't open.
The three orderlies returned, all suited up in 'space suits'. "Containment room is ready, guys." Asche stepped aside to let them by. Nodding in unison, the three wheeled Penance into the containment room.
The three orderlies milled about in the sealed room and hooked Penance back up to assorted monitors. The hissing sound of their portable respirators sounded eerie in the room. "Mirandahh, have you any suggestions for treatment?" Elliot asked, calm as always.
Asche was dumbfounded by the readings so far. "Uhm, no. Geez, let's get some tests going." She alternated between staring at the readouts on the monitors and watching the orderlies through the window.
"Certainly." The computer began running assorted data checks on the readings coming from the monitors.
Asche continued her assessment. "No indication of rad burns -- did anyone check the injured guards?"
The head orderly began directing the ministrations. "Okay, get some of the instaskin onto those wounds."
"Gotcha, done." A second took out what appeared to be a small aerosol can and sprayed it lightly over the wounds.
The third paced back and forth nervously. "I don't like whatever she is. Dunno what else we can really do."
"Hey, she's been behavin' so chill out, man," the second orderly admonished in defense of the girl.
Asche's voice sounded tinny through the speakers. "We can't turn her loose."
The unusual patient's eyelids fluttered open and her overly large blue orbs looked up at the spacemen. Penance blinked awake and tried to sit up. As she found herself strapped tight, a small hiss formed through her lips. Her arms and legs jerked against the restraints, very unhappy and completely terrified.
"Cripes sakes, she's coming around again!" The head orderly stared, amazed. "What the hell sorta metabolism this thing got?"
The third orderly still paced nervously. "I say we dump'er out the back door." He continued to pace around while the other two assessed the patient.
"Mirandahh?"
"Yes, Elliot?" Asche scowled, overhearing the orderlies comment.
"Data, from what I can gather and extrapolate, seems to indicate that this organism is basically in sound condition, other than the tazer wounds themselves."
"Is she giving off radiation, Elliot?"
"Ash, I gotta agree, she -- err, 'it', seems to be well enough." The second orderly nodded in agreement with the first.
The third simply reitterated his solution. "Out the back door, man."
The girl opened her mouth as her blue orbs opened wide. It was a silent scream as she 'went postal' on the gurney. Evidently, this was far too familiar a scenario for her. The girl's eyes locked on Asche as she struggled and the latter could see it was more the look of a frightened little girl than that of an animal. As she tried to get free, soundless whimpers escaped her. Her shoulder was bent at a very unnatural angle due to the earlier dislocation of it.
"Radiation counts appear relatively constant. They do seem to spike when she struggles. Possibly a result of radiation carried in the hemoglobin, possibly an adrenal response."
"Is she emitting?" Asche was still concerned. "How much of a danger is she to the population?"
"Levels are far above normal, but within the limits of safety." Elliot assured. "At least insofar as others around her would be concerned, though I would not suggest spending protracted periods of time with her."
Asche nodded, satisfied. "Let her go, boys."
"Out the back door, man," the one said again.
"Let'er go, no problem." The two unbuckled her restraints carefully. The girl was struggling one arm and looking even more scared.
"This is weird." Asche shook her head. "Elliot upload all this to my personal database. I gotta take a closer look."
"Very well, Mirandahh."
The three orderlies quietly made their way out of the containment room. Penance rolled to the ground off the gurney and landed on her twisted arm. She shuffled to the wall quickly, the limp limb bent at a strange angle. Elliot made sure to lock the door behind them, leaving the girl inside. Asche instructed the crew to let Penance go and not bother the girl anymore. Then she folded her arms against her torso and walked out of the ER.
Penance crawled to the door and clambered up to stand next to it. She looked through the small glass in the door, her eyes darting back and forth. Her forehead knocked against the door solidly, rhythmically.
Elliot quietly observed the girl through his optical sensors. After a time he spoke. "Unidentified organism, what do you call yourself?"
The girl began to limp through the room, pacing back and forth on her three usable limbs. She did not seem to hear Elliot.
The computer noted no response, not even a slight twitch, to his inquiry. Elliot then sounded a piercing wail of a siren localized into the containment room. Asche made her way to the lobby desk to sink into the chair and call up the girl's records on the terminal. The sound still bled out down the hallways and Ash could even hear a faint wail at her desk. Motionless except to scroll the screen, Asche studied the results of the tests. Abruptly, she frowned and looked up at the faint alarm. "Elliot?"
In the containment room, the girl she stopped in place after a few seconds of the wail. She cocked her head in a number of directions, but only after a few seconds after it began. her head coming to rest against the wall, leaning heavily on it::after a while, she just presses herself into a corner of the room and huddles into an upright fetal position, staring at the door like it was going to come at her::
Trapped the girl rocked slowly in the corner of the room, visibly pacified as she accepted her fate again. Her eyes took on a vacant sort of quality while she sat in her "cage."
Elliot's voice came through the speaker nearest Ash's desk. "She appears to be deaf, Mirandahh."
Like a spector haunting hallowed halls at night, the one eyed man drifted down quiet hallways. His body was now clean under the dust covered clothing and the sand riddled coat. He entered the lobby once more and crossed the floor to the cafeteria. Asche caught a glimpse of Zac's passage from the corner of her eye. "That alarm was you then, Elliot?"
"Yes," Elliot replied. "She reacts to the vibration of loud noises, but the subtle tones of speech are lost on her."
Zac's hand was upon the door, but he stopped. He had caught Ash's attention. He waited and then slipped in when she turned her head.
"She wasn't responding to voices. That makes sense...Elliot she reminded me of a animal...a cat..."
"She does appear to have some feline qualities, Mirandahh. She also seems to be suffering from a dislocated shoulder."
"What are the odds she'll let me set her shoulder?"
"I am at an impasse as to what can be done to communicate with her."
"Try smells, Elliot...Sight...We know she can see..."
"I cannot generate olfactory stimulus in the containment room, Mirandahh. And outside of the medical monitors, I haven't a terminal there by which to display any sort of images."
Of course not. Asche would have realized all that herself if she weren’t so tired. She let out a quiet sigh. "Maybe one on one with her?"
"That appears to be the only possibility."
The medic pushed to her feet. "I guess one on one it is..."
"Well, there is another option, Mirandahh. That being we simply let her walk out."
"With a dislocated shoulder?"
"A dislocated shoulder doesn't inhibit bipedal movement. Perhaps if she is allowed to walk free, she may let you look at it."
"Yeah, I know. Clear the area to the nearest door to the outside, Elliot. Let's let her go."
"As you wish, Mirandahh."
Unsure why she felt so bad about this, Asche headed to the containment room. She watched from the front, through the observation window. Amidst the halls leading to the alluded to back door, doors began closing and bolting shut. Once the corridors were secured, the rear exit of the containment room swung open. The air from the outside rushed in, passing over Penance.
The catlike girl’s eyes remained fixed on the doorway as the door opens, though she sat there still, rocking back and forth very slightly, curled tightly into the corner. Fear filled her eyes. Her mouth moved slowly, working out the motions to possible words, but no sound came out. Just the slow rocking continued. The mouthed word was only attempted a few times and even then apparently unconsciously. Asche watched, trying to will the girl to take the escape route.
"Mirandahh, I can do no more. The path of escape is secure and the doors are open. If she refuses to take flight, I have no reasonable suggestions."
Asche leaned forward till her forehead hit the glass. "Give her time...she'll figure it out. Lead her out?"
"Mirandahh, I am going to begin constructing an organism template from her readings."
"Good idea, Elliot." Asche watched the girl closely from her vantage point.
"If you wish to lead her out, that may work ... I do not, however, endorse that course of action."
"Only as a last resort," Asche told him, torn between fascination and horror and scientific curiosity. Her face was smashed against the glass as she watched the girl's lips move.